​The Dream Team

Working With the Alberta Community & Beyond

Our highly skilled and qualified staff also experience the wonders that await them at Dreamcatcher Ranch making it a healthy and rewarding place to work. Our students, volunteers and interns alike are blessed too. Together; we learn and experience the benefits of being teachable students ourselves making us fit and ready to 'be' and to 'serve' others in partnership with our furry co-counselors. ​

Eileen Bona M.Ed. Registered Psychologist, Director and Founder of Dreamcatcher​Eileen is a Registered Psychologist and the Director and Founder of Dreamcatcher. Eileen's brother, John, sustained a severe brain injury as a result of Meningitis at eight months old. John was a great influence. As a result, Eileen immersed herself in advocating for her brother. Her life-changing experiences prompted Eileen to begin helping others who were also falling through the cracks.

Over the course of the last 20 years she has never looked back. Eileen's specialization in helping children and youth with a variety of life issues and multiple mental health diagnoses, and more specifically brain related conditions, has not only evolved, but paid great dividends in terms of the progress of the individuals and families she has and is working with. Another important outcome is the wonderful transformation of the many critters Eileen has taken under her wing. From navigating social services and health-care systems to advocacy her determination is paying off, for those served along with her devoted and capable colleagues. ​Eileen is a past Sessional Instructor of Introductory Psychology at King’s University. She is the designer of Western Canada’s first college-accredited course in Animal Assisted Therapy and has instructed students enrolled in this course for its first two years in existence. She is currently the Chair for the National Task Force on developing Standards and Certification for Animal Assisted Therapy in Canada and has designed the first Master’s level Canadian certificate in Animal Assisted Therapy.

​Eileen presents the concept and techniques of Animal Assisted Therapy nationally at conferences and agency-level presentations. She provides intensive training in Animal Assisted Therapy in both Workshop and Internship formats at Dreamcatcher, as well as travels nationally to help other organizations develop and implement their Animal Assisted programs.

​Delia Eaves Registered Psychologist​Delia holds her B.A. and M.A. in psychology and is a Registered Psychologist in Alberta. She has over 20 years experience working with children and adolescents in a variety of settings with a variety of behavioral, emotional, and mental health challenges. Delia started her work in daycares and afterschool child care programs, and then moved into the school system as an Educational Assistant. Delia’s clinical work began in residential treatment programs where she gained valuable experience in self-harming and trauma therapy. Delia took a keen interest into the purpose and understanding of self-harming behaviors.

Delia has been working at Dreamcatcher since November 2009. She grew up with animals and summer visits to family and friends provided opportunities to interact with horses and cows. Delia decided to take her compassion for animals and join the Dreamcatcher team to learn and offer the animal assisted therapy methods of helping people. Delia strongly believes that working with animals, or simply being a part of nature, provides an effective medium for assisting people who may be experiencing a variety of mental health challenges such as FASD and attachment disruption who typically find it challenging to discuss their thoughts and emotions in the traditional therapeutic ways.

Currently Delia works with clients from the ages of four to adulthood. She provides individual and family therapy, as well as conducts a variety of psychological assessments. Through Play, Art, Animal Assisted Therapy and Equine Facilitated Counselling, Delia is committed to sharing her knowledge to assist families and individuals in working through a variety of challenges including: anxiety, depression, trauma, self-harm, FASD, attachment, behavioural concerns, emotional regulation, ADHD, addictions.

​Reesa Lerner MSW, Register Social Worker​Reesa is a registered Social Worker. Inspired by a beagle named Bailey, she has been researching and training in the Nature and Animal Assisted Therapy field since 2006. Reesa has been involved with Dreamcatcher as a volunteer since 2010. She is excited to finally be joining the team as a therapist.

Reesa completed her Masters of Social work, with a clinical focus, at Yeshiva University (NY), her Bachelor of Social Work from York University, and Bachelors in Psychology from the University of Alberta. She specializes in working with teens and adults with complex needs including trauma, addictions, psychosis and especially those who have been marginalized. Her therapeutic approaches include cognitive-behavioural, strengths based, trauma-focused, nature and animal assisted. She is developing her skills in equine facilitated therapy. She is also training her little Chihuahua cross, Sababa, as a therapy dog.​Reesa is kind and understanding and believes everyone deserves the best. With her quick wit and down to earth personality she is a perfect fit for older teens and young adults.

Melonie Labrecque- Registered Provisional Psychologist"The journey to becoming a therapist has been an exciting and rewarding one. I heard the saying 'find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life.' When I sat down and thought about it I found myself naturally drawn to being there for and helping others. In high school I took my first psychology course and fell in love. From there I went into my undergraduate studies. Each year I narrowed into what I wanted to specifically work with; however, I didn't limit myself and took work experience in as many areas as possible. First I figured out that I wanted to work in counselling psychology. Then I realized I specifically love working with children, and later found out that I also enjoy working with seniors. After this I began to figure out what I wanted to specialize in: animal-assisted therapy and play therapy and have additionally found that I will want to work with a music-based medium as well.​I became involved with Dreamcatcher in the final year of my undergraduate degree when I attended an animal-assisted therapy workshop. It was then that I fell in love with animal-assisted therapy and decided I would love to eventually work at Dreamcatcher. It became my goal. For three years I would occasionally volunteer at Dreamcatcher and then completed my practicum here. I was thrilled to begin my career as a therapist at Dreamcatcher. I attained my goal and reached my dream career. Today, I work as a Registered Provisional Psychologist at Dreamcatcher and aim to touch as many lives as positively as I can."

​Jess Bradley B.H.Sc. - Office AdministrationJess graduated with her Bachelor's Degree in Addictions Counselling in 2009. She grew up in the Okanagan, with such a passion for children and animals that she knew she had to find some capacity to work with them together. She has a great love and respect for all species of animals from horses to salamanders, fish to hedgehogs. She has a particular fondness for reptiles of all sorts, especially snakes.

Jess loves working with kids of all ages and especially enjoys the opportunity to teach them all sorts of things about animals, like how reptiles are ectothermic, or chickens typically take 21 days to hatch. In her downtime, Jess enjoys fire spinning, drawing haida artwork, playing vido games and caring for her new rescue puppy Ezio. She loves to travel and hopes to visit Iceland and Ireland in the upcoming years.​You can usually catch Jess giving a belly rub to Buddy the horse, checking up on the chickens, or sleeping with the dogs on their beds when she needs a nap!

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Gayle Lydiate

An enlightening video Eileen, you and your team are providing an amazing form of therapy and also saving the lives of some animals that would otherwise not have a second chance at life. Very inspiring!